Paulina Quintao – The President of the Women's Business Association in Timor-Leste (AMETL), Hergui Luina Fernandes said the government needs to create infrastructure with good conditions, including a laboratory, to grant certificates to livestock products and to facilitate organic certification so the private sector can export these products overseas.
She acknowledged the production capacity of this country is not enough to compete with other countries, but entrepreneurs have defined some strategic products to raise their production and export to overseas markets, to gain profits for farmers.
"I think the laboratory is very important, because we cannot export any products without certification, particularly organic certification, which is what we want to promote. How else are we going to motivate our farmers to produce organic products," she said in Fatuhada, Dili.
She said for example, in other countries organic products are more expensive than non-organic products, but in our country both products have the same price, and this is because we do not have any proof a product is organic.
Meanwhile, Member of Commission D (Economic and Development) at the National Parliament, MP Mariano Assanami Sabino said the government's plan on the livestock sector is focused on organic products because they can fetch good prices in overseas markets, but they lack certification.
"We need to certify these organic products and establish specific shops, and have the proof to validate them," he said.
He acknowledged that the State General Budget approved every year on basic infrastructure for the agricultural sector is too small and that it is mostly allocated to roads, ports and airport constructions, but in the future the budget must be reviewed to provide credit to communities to run businesses in the agricultural sector.